Multiple function shutter button assembly

ABSTRACT

A camera structure includes a multiple function shutter button assembly that is capable of performing multiple functions in combination with other camera elements. More specifically, the camera includes a camera body, a circuit board attached to the camera body, a shutter button assembly including a sliding member movably coupled to the camera body, wherein the sliding member comprises a shutter button arm, a shutter actuation arm, and an electrical contact arm, and a biasing mechanism for biasing the sliding member to an initial position. The shutter actuation arm includes a shutter actuation member that activates a shutter release mechanism of the camera when a force is applied to the shutter button arm to move sliding member from the initial position to a shutter actuation position. The electrical contact arm includes electrical contact elements that come into contact with contact pads provided on the circuit board when the force is applied to the shutter button arm to move the sliding member from the initial position to an electrical contact position. The electrical contact arm can either be fixed in a stationary manner or coupled to the sliding member by a yoke assemble that permits movement of the electrical contact arm along an arc. A lens cover assembly is provided that is moveable from a closed position to an open position, wherein the lens cover assembly includes a slide plate having a retainer portion that slides over the electrical contact arm to maintain a contact pressure. The slide plate further comprises a shutter lock member that is positioned beneath the shutter actuation arm to prevent movement of the slide member to the shutter actuation position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patentapplications Ser. No. 08/941,425, entitled: CAMERA INCLUDING DUAL SIDEDAUXILIARY CIRCUIT BOARD, and filed in the names of William F. Dasseroand Robert J. Stanchus; Ser. No. 08/940,569, entitled: MINIATURE FLASHCIRCUIT SWITCH WITH HIGH CURRENT CAPABILITY, and filed in the names ofRonald W. Grant and William B. Salvas; Ser. No. 08/940,725,entitled:FILL-FLASH/FLASH-DEFEAT SWITCH RETAINED BY ELECTRONIC FLASH UNIT, andfiled in the names of Robert J. Stanchus and William F. Dassero; Ser.No. 08/940,525, entitled: CAMERA HAVING SELF TIME UNWIND WITHOUTEXPOSURE, and filed in the names of William B. Salvas and William F.Dassero; Ser. No. 08/940,423, entitled: CAMERA HAVING SELF TIMER DWELL,and filed in the names of William B. Salvas, Robert J. Stanchus andWilliam F. Dassero; Ser. No. 08/941,778, entitled: CAMERA AND MECHANICALSELF TIMER, and filed in the names of William B. Salvas and Ronald W.Grant, each of which are assigned to the assignee of this application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates in general to camera structures. In particular,the invention relates to a camera structure that includes a multiplefunction shutter button assembly including at least one electricalcontact arm and at least one shutter actuation arm.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is desirable to produce a camera structure that is both compact andfunctionally efficient. One approach to accomplishing both objectiveswould be to utilize common structural elements within the camera toperform multiple tasks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,839,607 issued to Ogihara, forexample, illustrates a camera shutter release lever that is utilized toactuate an electrical power switch for an electrically activated camerashutter. In order to produce a more compact and efficient camera design,however, it would be preferable to utilize individual structuralelements, such as the shutter release lever described above, to performmore than one function.

In view of the above, it is an object of the invention to provide acamera structure that includes a multiple function shutter buttonassembly that is capable of performing multiple functions in combinationwith other camera elements.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a camera structure including a multiple functionshutter button assembly that is capable of performing multiple functionsin combination with other camera elements. More specifically, the cameraincludes a camera body, a circuit board attached to the camera body, ashutter button assembly including a sliding member movably coupled tothe camera body, wherein the sliding member comprises a shutter buttonarm, a shutter actuation arm, and an electrical contact arm, and abiasing mechanism for biasing the sliding member to an initial position.The shutter actuation arm includes a shutter actuation member thatactivates a shutter release mechanism of the camera when a force isapplied to the shutter button arm to move sliding member from theinitial position to a shutter actuation position. The electrical contactarm includes electrical contact elements that come into contact withcontact pads provided on the circuit board when the force is applied tothe shutter button arm to move the sliding member from the initialposition to an electrical contact position. The electrical contact armcan either be fixed in a stationary manner or coupled to the slidingmember by a yoke assemble that permits movement of the electricalcontact arm along an arc. A lens cover assembly is provided that ismoveable from a closed position to an open position, wherein the lenscover assembly includes a slide plate having a retainer portion thatslides over the electrical contact arm to maintain a contact pressure.The slide plate further comprises a shutter lock member that ispositioned beneath the shutter actuation arm to prevent movement of theslide member to the shutter actuation position.

The shutter button assembly provides multiple functions including theactuation of the camera's shutter release mechanism and the activationof various circuit elements to perform pre-exposure operations prior tothe actuation of the shutter release. Other features and advantages ofthe invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art afterreview of the following detailed description of the preferred embodimentand the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof and the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a photographic camera inaccordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the photographic camera illustratedin FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view of the camera illustrated in FIG. 1 with thefront housing cover removed.

FIG. 4 illustrates the electrical coupling of a main printed circuitboard and an auxiliary printed circuit board incorporated in the cameraof FIG. 1 utilizing abutting electrical contacts;

FIG. 5 is a partial exploded view of the camera illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a film rewind control switch utilized inthe camera illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a partial exploded view of the attachment of an electronicflash unit to a main camera frame illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are bottom views illustrating the operation of afill-flash/flash-defeat switch element utilized in the cameraillustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a side view illustrating the attachment of a wiper carrierassembly and an electronic flash unit;

FIG. 11 is a perspective front view of the camera illustrated in FIG. 3with the wiper carrier assembly shown in place;

FIG. 12 is a top view illustrating the attachment of a transparent coverto a reflector body structure of the flash unit illustrated in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of the camera illustrated in FIG. 3with an internal slide member of a sliding lens cover assembly locatedin a closed position;

FIG. 14 illustrates the structure of a leaf spring switch element;

FIG. 15 is a front perspective view of the camera illustrated in FIG. 3with an internal slide member of a sliding lens cover assembly locatedin an open position;

FIG. 16 illustrates a shutter button assembly;

FIG. 17 is a front perspective view of a second embodiment of theinvention that utilizes a pivot yoke to permit pivotal movement of anelectrical contact arm of a shutter button assembly;

FIG. 18 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is an exploded view of a third embodiment of the invention thatincorporates a rotary switch;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19with an internal slide member of a sliding lens cover making contactwith the rotary switch.

FIG. 21 is a circuit diagram illustrating the interconnection of a flashcharger circuit and flash-ready indicator lamp with a flash operationcontrol switch; and

FIG. 22 is a side view of the flash operation control switch indifferent operating positions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a photographic camera in accordance with theinvention that includes a front housing cover 10, a lens 12, anelectronic flash unit 14, an optical viewfinder 16, a shutter buttonassembly 18 and a mechanical exposure counter 20. A sliding lens coverassembly 24 is mounted to the front housing cover 10, such that movementof the sliding lens cover assembly 24 from a closed position to an openposition activates electronic control circuitry of the photographiccamera as will be described in greater detail. A red-eye reduction lamp26, an electronic flash sensor 28 and a fill-flash/flash-defeat controlswitch assembly 30 are preferably located adjacent to the electronicflash unit 14 as illustrated. A self-timer control button 32 is alsopreferably provided on the front of the camera to control the operationof a mechanical or electrical self-timer unit contained within the mainbody of the camera.

FIG. 2 illustrates a back view of the camera shown in FIG. 1 with a filmdoor 34 located in an open position. The film door 34 is coupled to amain camera frame 36 by a hinge assembly 38 and latched in a closedposition by a latching mechanism 40 in a conventional manner. The filmdoor 34 preferably includes a film window 42 that provides a cameraoperator with a view of the film chamber 46 of the camera in which afilm spindle 44 is located. Film is advanced from a film canister loadedon the film spindle 44 in the film chamber 46 to a film take-up spool 48by a motorized drive unit (not shown), and is maintained in properposition along a film transport path between the film chamber 46 andfilm take-up spool 48 by a film sprocket assembly 50. The film sprocketassembly 50 also serves to reset the camera's shutter mechanism and actas a detent for the mechanical exposure counter 20. A film rewindcontrol switch 52 is provided to cause the motorized drive unit to drivethe film spindle 44 in a rewind direction when activated by the cameraoperator. Other illustrated features include a flash-ready indicatorlamp 54 located adjacent to an optical viewfinder eyepiece 56 and ahinged battery compartment door 58.

FIG. 3 illustrates a front view of the camera with the front housingcover 10 removed. A main printed circuit board 60 is attached to a frontportion of the main camera frame 36. Various electronic control circuitsfor the camera, including a main camera control processor and flashcontrol circuitry, are located on the main printed circuit board 60. Inaddition, discrete circuit elements, such as the electronic flash sensor28 and an electronic flash operation control switch 62, are also locatedon the main printed circuit board 60. A mechanical plate 64 is attachedto a top portion of the main camera frame 36 that includes a viewfinderretainer structure 66 and a motorized drive unit housing 68,respectively utilized to retain optical elements of the opticalviewfinder 16 and a gear train of the motorized drive unit (not shown).An auxiliary printed circuit board 70 is also attached to the topportion of the main camera frame 36, such that a plane defined by theauxiliary printed circuit board 70 is substantially perpendicular to aplane defined by the main printed circuit board 60. The auxiliaryprinted circuit board 70 is preferably utilized to retain the red-eyereduction lamp 26 and the flash ready indicator lamp 54 (preferably aneon lamp), as well as providing electrical coupling to battery leads76. A rear housing cover 72 is also attached to a rear portion of themain camera frame 36.

In order to aid in the assembly of the overall camera structure, theauxiliary printed circuit board 70 includes slots 74 that are utilizedto retain the battery leads 76. The battery leads 76 extend into abattery compartment of the camera located below the auxiliary printedcircuit board 70 and behind the electronic flash unit 14. The slots 74and battery leads 76 are preferably sized to provide a mechanical "snap"fit, such that the battery leads 76 are physically held in place by theslots 74. The use of a mechanical snap fit for the slots 74 and batteryleads 76 greatly simplifies the manufacturing process, by allowing thebattery leads 76 to be properly located and held in place until asoldering operation can be performed to connect the battery leads 76 toelectrical leads 78 that are provided, either adjacent to or immediatelysurrounding the slots 74, on the auxiliary printed circuit board 70. Anyexcess in the length of the battery leads 76 is preferably trimmed oncethe soldering operation is completed. Although a mechanical snap fit ispreferred to physically hold the battery leads 76 in place whileawaiting a soldering operation, the battery leads 76 need only beretained within the slots 74 in a manner to permit the proper solderingof the battery leads 76 to the electrical leads 78.

The main printed circuit board 60 and the auxiliary secondary printedcircuit board 70 are electrically coupled together to permit thetransfer of electrical control and power signals between the two circuitboards. Conventional techniques such as flexible circuits, ribbon cablesor discrete wires can be utilized to provide the required electricalcoupling. In order to greatly simplify the manufacturing process,however, it would be preferred that electrical leads of the main printedcircuit board 60 and the auxiliary printed circuit board 70 be directlycoupled. FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which themain printed circuit board 60 and the auxiliary printed circuit board 70are located substantially perpendicular, such that electrical leads 80on the main printed circuit board 60 perpendicularly abut electricalleads 82 on the auxiliary printed circuit board 70. A solderingoperation is then performed to connect the electrical leads 80 to theelectrical leads 82 with a solder connection joint 84 located at thejunction of the perpendicular abutment. The use of the perpendicularlyabutting electrical leads 80, 82 reduces the time required to solder theconnections between the main printed circuit board 60 and the auxiliaryprinted circuit board 70 as compared with the time generally required tosolder flexible circuits or discrete wires. It should be noted that theelectrical leads 82 of the auxiliary printed circuit board 70 could alsobe located on a lower surface thereof, as viewed in the FIG. 4, suchthat the solder connection joint 84 would be located at a connectionpoint 86 underneath the auxiliary printed circuit board 70. In such anembodiment, the portion of the main printed circuit board 60 containingthe electrical leads 80 would not have to extend past the auxiliaryprinted circuit board 70 as shown in FIG. 4, but instead, wouldterminate at the upper surface of the auxiliary printed circuit board70. Other variations, of course, are possible depending on the layout ofthe main and auxiliary printed circuit boards 60, 70 within the mainbody of the camera.

FIG. 5 illustrates a partial exploded view of the camera structureillustrated in FIG. 3. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the film rewind controlswitch 52 is located between the auxiliary printed circuit board 70 andthe main camera frame 36, and includes a main switch body 87 having aflexible slide element 88 that fits into a slot 90 ion of the maincamera frame 36. Electrical contact wiper elements 92 are provided on atop surface of the main switch body 87. The electrical contact wiperelements 92 come into contact with electrical contacts 94 (shown bydotted lines) located on the bottom side of the auxiliary printedcircuit board 70, as the film rewind control switch 52 is moved back andforth between an initial position and a film rewind position. Anextension member 96 is also provided as part of the main switch body 87.The extension member 96 contacts and activates a switch element 98provided on the top surface of the secondary printed circuit board 70.In the illustrated embodiment, the switch element 98 constitutes aportion of a current drain protection circuit. Accordingly, in theillustrated embodiment, the film rewind control switch 52 interacts withcircuit elements on both sides of the auxiliary printed circuit board 70to provide a compact and efficient design. The positioning of theauxiliary printed circuit board 70 with respect to the film rewindcontrol switch 52 permits the flash-ready indicator lamp 54 to bereadily aligned with an indicator lamp hole 99 located on the rear coverhousing 72 of the camera.

An interface is provided between the film rewind control switch 52 andthe film door 34 to reset the film rewind control switch 52 to theinitial position when the film door 34 is opened to remove rewound film.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the flexible slide element 88 includesa ramped end 100 that rides over and snaps in place behind a stopmechanism 102 provided on the film door 34, when the film door 34 isclosed and the film rewind control switch 52 is moved to the film rewindposition in the direction indicated by the arrow "A". When the film door34 is opened, the stop mechanism 102 is pulled out of the path of theflexible slide element 88 along the path indicated by arrow "B", and thefilm rewind control switch 52 is pulled back to its initial position bya biasing spring 104 shown in FIG. 5. The relative positioning of theramped end 100 of the flexible slide element 88 and the stop mechanism102 when the film door is opened is shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 illustrates a partial exploded view of the camera structureillustrated in FIG. 3 detailing the assembly of the electronic flashunit 14 and the fill-flash/flash-defeat control switch assembly 30 withrespect to the main camera frame 36 and the main printed circuit board60. The main printed circuit board 60 includes an electrical contactgroup 114 located on a front surface thereof that is utilized to providesignals corresponding to the operation of the fill-flash/flash-defeatcontrol functions of the camera. An electrical contact wiper element 106is coupled to a wiper carrier assembly 108, which includes a postelement 110 that is captured in a slot provided in thefill-flash/flash-off switch element 112. As shown in FIG. 8, thefill-flash/flash-off switch element 112 is pivotally mounted to the maincamera frame 36 and is biased to a neutral position by a spring element116 as shown. Movement of the fill-flash/flash-defeat switch element 112imparts a force to the post 110 of the wiper carrier assembly 108causing the wiper carrier assembly 108, including the electrical contactwiper element 106 coupled thereto, to move laterally back and forth toselectively bring the electrical contact wiper element 106 into contactwith either the left electrical contact 118 (to supply a fill flashcondition signal to a control circuit of the camera) or the rightelectrical contact 120 of the electrical contact group 114 asillustrated in FIG. 9 (to supply a flash defeat condition signal to thecontrol circuit of the camera).

The top portion of the wiper carrier assembly 108 is held in placeagainst the main printed circuit board 60 primarily by the electronicflash unit 14. As shown in the FIG. 10, the electronic flash unit 14includes a transparent cover 122 that snaps onto a reflector mountingstructure 124. A reflector plate 126 and a flash tube 128 are retainedwithin the reflector mounting structure 124. The reflector mountingstructure 124 includes a flexible extension arm 130 that snaps into arelief opening 132 provided in the main camera frame 36. The entireflash unit 14 is resiliently biased outward into position against thefront camera housing 10 by an elastic band 134 that is looped around theends of the flash tube 128 (indicated by dashed line) and passes betweenthe reflector mounting structure 124 and the main camera frame 36 in achannel 136. As shown in FIG. 11, which provides a view with theelectronic flash unit 14 removed, guide openings 138 are provided topermit the wiper carrier assembly 108 to slide back and forth over guideribs 140 that extend from the main camera frame 36. The sequence ofassembly includes mounting the fill-flash/flash-defeat switch element112 to the main camera frame 36, mounting the main circuit board 60 ontothe main camera frame 36 with mounting screws 115 to locate and retainthe fill-flash/flash-defeat switch element 112 in place, positioning thewiper carrier assembly 108 so that the post 110 is captured by thefill-flash/flash-defeat switch element 112 and locating the guide ribs140 within the guide openings 138, and snapping the reflector mountingstructure 124 into the main camera frame 36. The overall structure issimple to assemble without requiring mechanical fasteners other than thescrews 115 used to attach the main circuit board 60 to the main cameraframe 36.

The transparent cover 122 is also provided with a mechanism to permiteasy attachment to the reflector mounting structure 124. As shown inFIG. 12, a first side of a top edge of the transparent cover 122 isprovided with an "L" shaped leg 142 and a second side of the top edge ofthe transparent cover 122 is provided with a substantially straight leg144 that is longer than the L-shaped leg 142. An identical L-shaped leg142 and an identical straight leg 144 are also provided at a bottom edgeof the transparent cover 122 as shown in FIG. 7. The reflector mountingstructure 124 is provided with a straight extension portion 146 and anangled extension portion 148 that respectively correspond to theL-shaped leg 142 and the straight leg 144 of the transparent cover 122.During assembly, the transparent cover 122 is engaged with a first sideof the reflector mounting structure 124 such that the L-shaped leg 142extends over the straight extension portion 146 as shown in FIG. 12. Ahook protrusion 149 extending downward from the tip of the L-shaped leg142 (or upward in the case of the lower leg illustrated in FIG. 7) isplaced behind a back surface 150 of the straight extension portion 146.

Accordingly, the L-shaped leg 142 pivots on the straight extensionportion 146 in a hinged manner, thereby allowing the straight leg 144 tobe rotated toward the angled extension portion 148 of the reflectormounting structure 124. A hook protrusion 152 extending downward fromthe straight leg 144 latches over a back edge 154 of the angledextension portion 148 to secure the transparent cover 122 to thereflector mounting structure 124 with a snap fit that preventscontaminants from entering the electronic flash unit 14.

The specifics of the flash operation control switch 62 will now bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 13-15, 21 and 22.. The flash operationcontrol switch 62 includes a leaf spring switch element 156 that isattached to the main circuit board 60 at a first end 158 and has asecond end 160 that is shaped to form first and second opposing contactpoints 162, 164 as shown in FIG. 14. The second end 160 of the leafspring switch element 156, including the first and second opposingcontact points 162, 164, is located between an electrical contact pad166 provided on the main printed circuit board 60 and a "bridge" contact168 that is coupled to the main printed circuit board 60 at both ends,so that the bridge contact 168 extends up and over the second end 160 ofthe leaf spring switch element 156 as shown in FIG. 13. The leaf springswitch element 156 is biased upward so that a second opposing contactpoint 164 comes into electrical contact with the bridge contact 168 whenthe sliding lens cover 24 is in the closed position. In a preferredembodiment illustrated in FIG. 21, the leaf spring switch element 156 isconfigured to act as a double-throw-single-pole switch to disable aflash charger circuit for the electronic flash unit 14 and to turn offthe flash ready indicator lamp 54. The flash charger circuit and theflash ready indicator lamp 54 are turned on when the leaf spring switchelement 156 is pushed downward so that the first opposing contact point162 makes contact with the contact pad 166.

The leaf spring switch element 156 is controlled by the sliding lenscover assembly 24. Specifically, the sliding lens cover assembly 24includes an interior slide plate 170 that is coupled to an exteriorslide plate 172 by a screw that slides within a slot 173 provided in thefront housing cover 10 (See FIG. 1). The interior slide plate 170includes guide protrusions 174 that ride on ridges provided on theinside of the front housing cover 10. When the sliding lens coverassembly 24 is moved from the closed position shown in FIG. 13 to anopen position as shown in FIG. 15, the slide plate 170 comes intocontact with an upwardly extending contact point 176 of the leaf springswitch element 156, and pushes downward on the contact point 176 shownin FIG. 14 to move the first opposing contact point 162 into contactwith the electrical contact pad 166 provided on the main printed circuitboard 60 with a force of approximately five ounces.

The simple design of the leaf spring switch element 156 can easilyhandle currents in excess of two amps. The illustrated embodiment, forexample, utilizes a leaf spring switch element 156 manufactured fromberyllium copper having a width of 3.5 mm, a thickness of 0.13 mm and alength of approximately 15 mm that switches between five and six amps ofcurrent. Greater current capacities are also possible depending on typeand dimensions of the material utilized. In desired, the second end 160of the leaf spring switch element 156 is also slit to provide multiplecontact points, with each contact point being capable of handling thefull current capacity of the leaf spring switch element 156, thereby ifone contact point becomes damaged or dirty.

Another advantage to the leaf spring switch element 156 is the abilityto clean contact surfaces during operation by providing a slidingcontact motion.

FIG. 22 illustrates multiple positions of the leaf spring switch element156 during operation. In position A, the sliding lens cover assembly 24is in the closed position such that the first opposing contact point 164of the leaf spring switch element 156 is in contact with the bridgecontact 168. As the sliding lens cover assembly 24 is moved to theopened position, contact is made with the contacting point 176 and adownward force is applied to the leaf spring switch element 156 untilthe first opposing contact 162 comes into contact with the electricalcontact pad 166 at an intermediate position B. The sliding lens coverassembly 24 continues to apply a force that causes the first opposingcontact 162 to slide of the surface of the electrical contact pad 166,thereby causing a frictional contact that cleans the surfaces of thefirst opposing contact 162 and the electrical contact pad 166, until afinal contact position C is reached.

The operation of the shutter button assembly 18 will now be describedwith reference to FIGS. 13, 15 and 16. As shown in FIG. 16, the shutterbutton assembly 18 includes a vertical sliding member 178 including ashutter button arm 180, a shutter actuation arm 182 and an electricalcontact arm 184. The shutter actuation arm 182 includes a shutteractuation member 186 that contacts a shutter release device (either amechanical member or an electrical switch) located on the main cameraframe 36, when the vertical sliding member 178 is pushed downward by theapplication of a force to the shutter button arm 180 by a cameraoperator. As the vertical sliding member 178 moves downward, and beforethe shutter actuation member 182 contacts the shutter release device,electrical contact wiper elements 188 provided on the electrical contactarm 184 are moved downward into contact with electrical contact pads 190provided on the main printed circuit board 60 as shown in FIG. 15. Theelectrical contact pads 190 are arranged to cause a sequence of signalsto be provided to the electrical control circuits of the camera so thatvarious pre-exposure operations can be performed prior to activation ofthe shutter release device by the shutter actuation member 182.

As shown in FIGS. 13 and 15, the vertical sliding member 178 is movablymounted to the main camera frame 36 and slides back and forth overprotrusions 192 that fit into slots 194 provided in the vertical slidingmember 178. The protrusions 192 are internally threaded to permit theinsertion of a retainer screw (not shown) to prevent the verticalsliding member 178 from slipping off. A spring 196 is provided to biasthe vertical sliding member 178 in an upward direction. The interiorslide plate 170 of the sliding lens cover assembly 24 includes aretainer 198 that slides over the electrical contact arm 184 of thevertical sliding member 178. The retainer 198 controls the amount ofcontact pressure applied to the electrical contact wiper elements 188provided on the electrical contact arm 184. The interior slide plate 170also includes a shutter lock member 200 that interacts with the shutteractuation arm 182. Specifically, when the sliding lens cover assembly 24is in the closed position, the shutter lock member 200 is located underthe shutter actuation arm 182, thereby preventing the downward movementof the vertical sliding member 178 as shown in FIG. 13. Accordingly, thesliding lens cover assembly 24 interacts with the other cameracomponents in the illustrated embodiment to provide a shutter lock,activation of the flash control circuitry, and to control the contactpressure applied to the electrical contact wiper elements 188. Theinvention has been described with reference to certain preferredembodiments thereof. It will be understood, however, that modificationsand variations are possible within the scope of the appended claims.FIGS. 17 and 18, for example, illustrates a further embodiment of theinvention in which the electrical contact arm 184 is attached to thevertical sliding member 178 of the shutter button assembly 18 via apivot yoke 202. The pivot yoke 202 allows the electrical contact arm 184to move in an arc, thereby allowing the electrical contact wiperelements 188 to sweep over arched or curved contact pads provided on themain printed circuit board 60. A still further embodiment of theinvention is illustrated in FIGS. 19 and 20 in which the flash controlswitch 62 takes the form of a rotary switch including a fixed switchmount 204 that is coupled to the circuit board 60 and a rotating wiperassembly 206 that is spring loaded by a spring 208 and rotates to makecontact with contact pads 210 provided on the circuit board 60 whencontacted by the interior sliding member 170 as shown in FIG. 20.

The invention has been described in detail with particular reference tocertain preferred embodiments thereof, but it will be understood thatvariations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scopeof the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A camera comprising:a camera body; a circuitboard attached to the camera body; and a shutter button assemblyincluding a sliding member movably coupled to the camera body, whereinthe sliding member comprises a shutter button arm, a shutter actuationarm, and an electrical contact arm; and biasing means for biasing thesliding member to an initial position; wherein the shutter actuation armincludes a shutter actuation member that activates a shutter releasemechanism of the camera when a force is applied to the shutter buttonarm to move the sliding member from the initial position to a shutteractuation position; and wherein the electrical contact arm includeselectrical contact elements that come into contact with contact padsprovided on the circuit board when the force is applied to the shutterbutton arm to move the sliding member from the initial position to anelectrical contact position; and further comprising a lens coverassembly moveable from a closed position to an open position, whereinthe lens cover assembly includes a slide plate having a retainer portionthat slides over the electrical contact arm.
 2. A camera as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the electrical contact arm is fixed in a stationarymanner to the sliding member.
 3. A camera as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe electrical contact arm is coupled to the sliding member by a pivotyoke assembly.
 4. A camera as claimed in claim 3, wherein the electricalcontact arm is moveable in an arc.
 5. A camera as claimed in claim 4,wherein the contact pads are curved in alignment with the movement ofthe electrical contact arm.
 6. A camera as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe retainer portion controls the amount of contact pressure applied tothe electrical contact elements of the electrical contact arm.
 7. Acamera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the slide plate further comprisesa shutter lock member that is positioned beneath the shutter actuationarm to prevent movement of the slide member to the shutter actuationposition when the lens cover assembly is moved to the closed position.8. A camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the sliding member reachesthe electrical contact position prior to the shutter actuation position.9. A camera as claimed in claim 1, wherein the electrical contactelement comprises a plurality of electrical wiper contacts.
 10. A cameracomprising:a camera body; a circuit board disposed in said camera body,said circuit board having a plurality of electrical contact pads; asliding member movably coupled to said camera body, said sliding memberincluding a shutter button arm, a shutter actuation arm, and anelectrical contact arm having a plurality of electrical contactelements, said electrical contact elements coming to contact saidcontact pads when a force is applied to the shutter button arm to movethe sliding member from an initial position to an electrical contactposition; and a lens cover assembly moveable from a closed position toan open position, said lens cover assembly including a slide platehaving a retainer portion that, in said open position, interacts withsaid electrical contact arm to maintain a contact pressure against saidelectrical contact elements.
 11. The camera of claim 10 wherein saidretainer portion can slide over said electrical contact arm.
 12. Thecamera of claim 10 wherein said contact elements are wiper elements. 13.The camera of claim 10 wherein said shutter actuation arm activates ashutter release mechanism of the camera when the force is applied tosaid shutter button arm to move said sliding member from said initialposition to a shutter actuation position.
 14. The camera of claim 13wherein said electrical contact position is between said initialposition and said shutter actuation position.
 15. The camera of claim 13wherein the slide plate further comprises a shutter lock member that ispositioned beneath the shutter actuation arm to prevent movement of theslide member to the shutter actuation position when the lens coverassembly is in the closed position.
 16. A camera comprising:camera body;a circuit board disposed in said camera body, said circuit board havinga plurality of electrical contact pads; a sliding member movably coupledto said camera body, said sliding member including a shutter button arm,a shutter actuation arm, and an electrical contact arm, said electricalcontact arm coming to contact said contact pads when a force is appliedto the shutter button arm to move said sliding member from an initialposition to an electrical contact position; and a lens cover assemblymoveable from a closed position to an open position, said lens coverassembly having a retainer portion that, in said open position,interacts with said electrical contact arm to control said contact ofsaid electrical contact arm and said contact pads.
 17. The camera ofclaim 16 wherein said electrical contact arm has a plurality ofelectrical contact wiper elements, said electrical contact wiperelements coming to contact said contact pads when the force is appliedto said shutter button arm to move said sliding member from said initialposition to said electrical contact position; and said retainer portion,in said open position, interacts with said electrical contact arm tomaintain said contact pressure against said electrical contact wiperelements.
 18. The camera of claim 17 wherein said shutter actuation armactivates a shutter release mechanism of the camera when the force isapplied to said shutter button arm to move said sliding member from saidinitial position to a shutter actuation position.
 19. The camera ofclaim 18 wherein said electrical contact position is between saidinitial position and said shutter actuation position.
 20. The camera ofclaim 16 wherein said lens cover assembly further comprises a shutterlock member preventing movement of the slide member to the shutteractuation position when the cover assembly is in the closed position.